Report: 49ers will sign a Harbaugh favorite in FB Marecic

The 49ers will sign fullback Owen Marecic, who played for Harbaugh at Stanford and was released by the Browns this week, the SportsXchange’s Kyle Bonagura reported.

During Marecic’s college career, Harbaugh termed the two-way standout the “perfect football player.” At the time, Harbaugh’s wife, Sarah, said her husband looked at looked at Marecic “like somebody else would look at a beautiful woman.”

In 2011, Harbaugh made it clear he wanted to draft Marecic, who went to Cleveland in the fourth round.

“We did everything we could to get him here and we came up short on that one,” Harbaugh said. “Cleveland got an outstanding football player in Owen Marecic. Like (general manager) Trent (Baalke) said, I’m going to be, in my mind, associated with Owen Marecic for a long time and following him and his career.

“I’ll be a fan because I love the way he plays football. I texted him and said we tried. It didn’t happen. That was one that we didn’t get that is a 49er kind of guy and Cleveland will be very happy with him. That was a heck of a job by them.”

The 49ers have a dependable fullback in Bruce Miller, who has started 33 of their past 34 games, including the playoffs, dating back to his rookie season in 2011.

Marecic also plays special teams and his signing raises questions about the status of Anthony Dixon, whose duties include running back, fullback and special teams. With LaMichael James sidelined for three to four weeks with a knee injury, however, Dixon is just one of three healthy running backs on the roster with NFL experience.

It’s also possible Marecic could assume the roster spot of a strictly special-teams player who was previously expected to make the roster. The 49ers have already waived wide receiver Kassim Osgood, 33, a three-time Pro Bowler as a special-teams ace. Another player who fits that description is safety Bubba Ventrone, who played with special teams coordinator Brad Seely in New England and Cleveland.

Marecic was among Cleveland’s first wave of roster cuts after a forgettable 2012 season. He was inactive for six of the season’s final nine games and played just one snap over the span, according to Pro Football Focus. He had four dropped passes, no receptions, two special-teams tackles and played 114 snaps.